“Barack,” “Obama,” and the Trademark Office

After such an exciting election, I thought I’d have some fun with a blog post and highlight a few attempts to register trademarks pertaining to our President-elect that, for reasons shown below, were unsuccessful:

“BARACK STAR” – U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 78/471,745 in IC 016 and 025 – This application was abandoned after the USPTO refused registration for false association because “the proposed mark consists of or comprises matter which may falsely suggest a connection with U.S. Senator Barack Obama” and “[a]lthough not connected with the goods or services applicant provides under the proposed mark, the name BARACK is so famous that consumers would presume a connection with Senator Obama.”

“DO YOU SMELL WHAT BARACK IS COOKING” – U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 77/406,936 in IC 025 – This application was abandoned after the USPTO refused registration “under Section 2(c) of the Trademark Act, for the record does not include the written consent of Barack Obama, the name of the living individual identified in the proposed mark.”

“PET BARACK” – U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 77/408,020 in IC 020 – This application was abandoned after the USPTO refused registration using the same lack of consent argument as described above.

“OBAMA — O BABY!” – U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 78/745,546 in IC 026 – This application was abandoned after the USPTO refused registration using a false connection argument similar to the false association argument described above.

“OBAMA SO PHAT” – U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 77/135,294 in IC 040 – This application was abandoned after the USPTO refused registration using the same lack of consent argument as described above.

“OBAMA NOT YOUR MAMA FOR PRESIDENT IN 2008” – U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 77/037,088 in IC 040 – This application was abandoned after the USPTO refused registration for false association and lack of consent as described above.

In addition to the foregoing, I note one additional trademark application (77/086,418) that I will not describe here due to its sensitive and offensive nature, and of which I am personally pleased to see rejected for a multitude of reasons.

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Following Mark’s lead, I also found this mark for Gov. Palin [also offensive] and a host “joe the plumbers” including several actual plumbers.